Step 3 ~ Dunn & Bradstreet File Creation

The Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B) business credit file is the important piece to the building business credit puzzle. We will show you in a few steps how to determine whether or not your business currently has a DUNS number, which is D&B’s equivalent to an EIN or social security number. For this step we will assume you either have a new business or your business doesn’t already have an established business credit file.

The sales people at D&B will tell you the only way to establish a business credit file and get a DUNS number is to purchase their CreditBuilder program for anywhere from $300-$800, differs between sales reps. With the purchase of the CreditBuilder program D&B will add up to 5 tradelines to your account and create a Paydex score, discussed more in the next step. NOTE: It is not necessary to purchase anything; your file will auto-create as soon as your first business credit vendor requests an investigation or reports activity to D&B.

You can obtain a DUNS number by two different methods, first is to let it auto-create right alongside your business credit file. You might be in a situation where you need to have it immediately, like if you are applying for government contracts, government grants or you simply would like to be able to provide it to the business credit lenders at the time of application, not required. Whatever the reason, if you need a DUNS number immediately you have two options:

Call D&B’s special toll-free number for federal grant applicants, 1-866-705-5711.

Go to https://eupdate.dnb.com/requestoptions.html and Choose the “DUNS number only” option. (Could take 30 days)

If you choose to call you might have to call multiple times since it is the sales rep’s job to sell you CreditBuilder so they don’t want to set it up for free. NOTE: Once you are on their radar screens the sales calls will continue until you purchase something, pay attention to the next few steps to empower yourself to fight back right away.